As a conventional electrical connector, one including an insulating housing in which a contact support portion of plate shape that supports contacts and is mated and unmated with a mating connector is included, the contacts being arranged on both top and bottom surfaces of the contact support portion for multipolarization, has been known. To reinforce the plate-shaped, low-strength contact support portion, such an electrical connector includes a metal plate held in the contact support portion (for example, Patent Literature 1).
The metal plate is buried in and fixed to the contact support portion by integral molding with the housing. Specifically, the metal plate is set in a mold and sandwiched between retaining pins from above and below so that the set metal plate is not displaced from a predetermined position by the pressure for filling a molten resin into a cavity formed between the upper and lower molds. In such a state, a molten resin is filled into the cavity. After the temperature of the resin lowers and the resin is cured, the retaining pins are removed, whereby the metal plate is fixed to the contact support portion of the housing by integral molding. The contacts then are pressed into and fixed to the housing, whereby the contacts are arranged to be exposed in part in the outer surfaces of the contact support portion of the housing.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-202656